The success the Bulls had this season is a quick study in turning a franchise completely around in one season. For all the hype that suddenly accumulated, you would’ve thought Chicago had been a championship contender for years, as evidenced by all four in studio TNT analysts picking them to beat the Heat and win the Eastern Conference. But, that has not been the case.

Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls have been eliminated from the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals at the hands of the Wade/LeBron-Bosh Miami Heat, 4-1. Chi-Town is fighting through some pain right now, but there shouldn’t be any. At the beginning of the season, there were not many people on the Bulls’ bandwagon. The hype grew as the wins piled up. The bandwagon grew yet many were not convinced. Rose won MVP and that’s when all hell broke loose. Tom Thibodeau received Coach of the Year. Beating Indiana and Atlanta were good. However, facing Miami caused the bandwagon to break. People keep saying that getting an upgrade at the shooting guard position over Keith Bogans is all that is needed to get the Bulls over the top to win it all.

Derrick Rose can’t do it by himself, especially with LeBron James guarding him. That we know. We also know that seven foot sub Omer Asik is done after breaking a bone in his leg. Carlos Boozer, after being heavily criticized for not producing much offensively at first, has finally stepped up over the last two games.

Game 1 is in the books. The Chicago Bulls woke up a lot of critics, 103-82. Led by Derrick Rose's 28 points and 6 assists, his performance was fine considering that he out dueled Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Both men did not even dial in 20 points, but Chris Bosh poured in 30 points. Miami's supporting cast could not get anything going as usual. However, the talk of the night belongs to Taj Gibson's dunks. One was on Dwyane Wade. The other one, which was a nasty put back, probably destroyed a planet somewhere. Lawd have mercy, things got nasty. Heat fans and critics were shocked. Don't be. They have been doing the business all season.

On the first team, the only unanimous player selected by all 119 media writers and broadcasters was LeBron James. Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard each received 118 votes, each shunned by one short sighted voter. D Rose is good enough to win the MVP but not be a unanimous selection? Must’ve been a Hawks or Pacers fan.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade admitted they strongly considered signing with the Bulls. "It was two mornings," Wade said at Friday's practice of waking up during the summer of 2010 envisioning himself with Chicago. "I definitely had one or two mornings where I woke up thinking I'd be a Bull too, but ultimately I decided to come here," James said.

Carlos Boozer has taken a lot of “heat” over the past couple weeks for his lack of production. But of all the injuries to play with turf toe is not something minor; though because it’s a toe injury (you have nine other ones that can carry the load, right?) it’s not seen as limiting as say a knee injury, or the shoulder injury Boozer dealt with earlier in the season.

Derrick Rose is officially the youngest NBA MVP for anyone living in a cave kicking it with John Rambo. He earned it at 22 years old. Leading the team to the number one record is a tall order for anyone. The 2010-2011 season is historic mainly because of this. Basketball fans witnessed something amazing that we will not see again from any 22 year old NBA player. It was fun to see all of the games on DirecTV. Chicago’s offense and the opposing team’s defensive game plans truly revolved around the Poohdini of the Hardwood.

Bulls guard Derrick Rose is the youngest MVP award-winner in the history of the NBA, according to a source familiar with the situation. The 22-year-old Rose was widely expected to win the award after leading the Bulls to a 62-20 record and No. 1 seed in the playoffs, according to an ESPN.com report on Monday.

Not many are giving the Hawks much of a chance against Chicago in the second round, but they’re definitely the funnier of the two teams in the matchup. Their PR man, Arthur Triche, explains the Jameer Nelson diss via Twitter: “Things that make me happy about this job. Taking a page out of Jerry Glanville’s book, I think I’ll follow through on Jameer’s request to catch Derrick Rose in the 2nd round.”

“We have the best closer in the world,” said Joakim Noah, who had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. “Everybody knows it. They know it. We know it. Their coach knows it. They all say it. They have no problems saying it. We all know it. That gives you confidence for your team.”

The Chicago Bulls becoming the number one team, record wise, reveals a quantum leap this season and ramifications for the future. Not many people are examining the Bulls massive improvements – they practically flew over the Atlantic Ocean without breaking a sweat. Imagine predicting that the Bulls would be the number one team with the best defense before the season started. Imagine that. People laugh, mock, wants some weed that you smoked, and then label you a Bulls homer. That is why some of us should say, “We’ll see.”

"We have the rules; you have to go straight up," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "You can't go forward or to the side. Twenty-one free throws, that's a lot of free throws. We have to figure out a way to keep him out of the lane."

HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: The Indiana Pacers have to deal with it. Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls’ franchise face and favorite to win the regular season MVP, will get to the line.

Rose will get to the line for two reasons. First, he does a sensational job penetrating and drawing contact. Second, he’s a superstar. Like it or not, refs favor superstars.

This is, after all, the NBA, where league head office protects elite talent like Greenpeace protects endangered species. Right or wrong, the zebras will give Rose the benefit of any doubt.

Instead of being frustrated at Rose’s 21 free throws in game one, the Pacers should be frustrated at themselves. They blew a fourth quarter lead, and should have stolen home-court advantage with a road win.

The Bulls will settle their nerves. Carlos Boozer will be better. Coach Tom Thibodeau will hit the video room and work out the kinks on defense.

In short, the Bulls will adjust in game two. The Pacers would be wise to forget Rose and do the same.

It’s that time again for the regular season end awards just like any other television sports show. It is time to pass out the awards. Rather than giving awards for the usual categories such as Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year….you get the picture…..let’s focus on categories that truly need to be highlighted – categories that I make up! Who cares about those other official awards anyway? They’re already locked up.

After winning 19 of 21 games the Bulls are nipping at the heels of the San Antonio Spurs for the league’s best record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Spurs have been so dominant all year it’s hard to believe anyone could even be challenging them for the league’s best record. Considering how untouchable they’ve seemed it makes you re-evaluate the Spurs roster to see how they’ve been doing it in the first place. Put simply its “efficiency”.

HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Last night, the Chicago Bulls made a statement by beating the Boston Celtics. And Derrick Rose made a statement with his play, specifically when he caught Rajon Rondo off guard with an incredible fake.

With Perkins gone, everything changed for the Celtics and they knew it: the toughness, the tenacity, the presence in the post. “He was tough,” Rose said. “We could defend on someone that was big. He was really tough to go around. … They’re different.”

Different doesn’t mean better. It means diminished. The Bulls beat the Celtics 44-22 in the paint, beat them badly on the boards, too. They assailed the Celtics the way the Celtics used to assail everyone else. “We know we can beat them,” Rose flatly said.

This is the most ridiculous thing I heard coming out from these arguments. Discrediting Derrick Rose is one thing, but to completely dismiss the award just because people do not agree with your assessments is another. This is flat out stupid. Why did people pick out this year to bring this up again? This was echoed with Steve Nash’s awards and probably with Allen Iverson’s. Is this what it has come down to?